Gemba Academy

The Top 5 Reasons for Using Production Preparation Process (3P)

By Jon Miller - May 1st, 2006

Last week we had the opportunity to give an online presentation to an automobile manufacturer on the Production Preparation Process (3P) and the top 5 reasons for using it. We discussed the impact Production Preparation Process can hav

Tame the Hedgehog, Name it Kaizen

By Jon Miller - April 28th, 2006

A reader e-mailed me a couple of days ago and said “I personally don’t believe all problems can be solved by a group of workers gathered together doing Kaizen” and went on to make a convincing case that specialized kn

Lean Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering & HRD: No Animals Today

By Jon Miller - April 26th, 2006

Leon Fok asked me a question today about the differences in Japanese and American management practices and how this affects their kaizen efforts. Leon is the Publications Coordinator at Gemba and has been with us a month. His question

Following the Kaizen Process Out of the Lion’s Den

By Jon Miller - April 24th, 2006

I’ll be blogging on the theme of Lean manufacturing, Industrial Engineering and Human Resources Development this week. This is a topic that’s been on my mind for quite a while and it’s time some of it was written down. Industrial

Lean Broadcasting? NHK Calls Toyota for Help with Kaizen

By Jon Miller - April 19th, 2006

Another embattled Japanese state-owned enterprise asked Toyota executives for help with kaizen yesterday. NHK (the national broadcasting corporation) has requested that Toyota send an official to join the board of directors of NHK. Toy

Kaizen in a Petri Dish

By Jon Miller - April 18th, 2006

Last summer while teaching VSM and demonstrating one-piece flow at one of our client’s factories in southern China I was introduced to the General Manager. He shook my hand. He wasted no time. He had one urgent question for me: “Ho

Gemba Keiei Chapter 19: Toyota Made the Kanban System Possible

By Jon Miller - April 17th, 2006

In this chapter Taiichi Ohno explains the origin and the conditions that resulted in the development of the kanban system at Toyota. In the beginning the machining process upstream would replenish what the assembly process downstream u

Lean Food Service: Cut Overproduction, Feed the Hungry

By Jon Miller - April 13th, 2006

One of the informal definitions of Lean manufacturing is “doing more with less”. A Puget Sound Business Journal article titled Throw Out Less Food and Help the Less Fortunate made a lot of sense to me. It maps out some prac

Job Shop Kaizen

By Jon Miller - April 12th, 2006

A continuous improvement specialist from a UTC group company e-mailed us today with the question “What principles should I look to implement for Job Shop Kaizen?” Kaizen in a job shop should aim to implement the same principles as

First Face of Innovation: Go to Gemba

By Jon Miller - April 10th, 2006

I’m reading The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO. These days innovation seems to be the trump card of executives and politicians who have grown bored with operational excellence. So I picked up this

Gemba Keiei Chapter 18: Supermarket System

By Jon Miller - April 7th, 2006

Taiichi Ohno starts out the chapter not quite having left the themes of his last two chapters behind. He describes how the jidoka idea that came from the Toyota textile business led to one operator running 20 or 30 machines. This think

Reflections on Standard Work

By Jon Miller - April 6th, 2006

Many companies lack documented standards and procedures, including Standard Work. As a cornerstone of the Toyota Production System, Standard Work is distinct from standardization. It is represented on a Standard Work Sheet, capturing l

What is Lean Government?

By Jon Miller - April 4th, 2006

As Lean manufacturing and “Lean fill-in-the-blank” take root in mainstream business consciousness I am noticing more mention of “lean government” by politicians in sound bytes as well as press releases and articles. I’m afrai

Gemba Keiei Chapter 17: The Goal – Improve Productivity Ten-Fold

By Jon Miller - April 2nd, 2006

Taiichi Ohno recounts when he first learned in 1937 that the American worker was 9 times more productive than the Japanese worker. Taiichi Ohno heard this from a Mitsubishi Electric factory manager who had recently returned from a tour

TPS from the Horse’s Mouth: View the Videos & Take the Quiz!

By Jon Miller - March 30th, 2006

Toyota has recently updated its website area for explaining the Toyota Production System (TPS), which includes the thinking and origins behind TPS, such as kanban, just in time, and judoka. The website offers simple explanations using

You’ve Gotta Go to Gemba More Often Than That!

By Jon Miller - March 28th, 2006

True story. Not too long ago I was with another one of our consultants teaching Just in Time principles to a group of newly minted Lean facilitators at one of our client’s factories. During one of the breaks one of the engineers

Toyota Seeking Top Talent: Tightwads Only Need Apply

By Jon Miller - March 26th, 2006

There have been several articles over the last year pointing out the challenge Toyota is facing as they expand overseas to find good people. The report Toyota’s Challenge: Growing the Talent points out that Toyota is growing faster t

Gemba Keiei Chapter 16: Grandpa Sakichi’s Jidoka Idea

By Jon Miller - March 23rd, 2006

I really enjoyed this chapter for a couple of reasons. First, Ohno uses the old-fashioned honorific for “grandpa” or “old man” when referring to Sakichi Toyoda in the title. There’s a certain warmth there and a reminder that

5S Your Desk: And Other Tips for Office Productivity

By Jon Miller - March 21st, 2006

“I know where everything is.” How many times have you heard (or given) this rejoinder to “please 5S your desk“? It’s hard to argue the logic of “cluttered desk, cluttered mind” when a desk is a

The Problem of Excessive Executive Compensation for Lean Manufacturing

By Jon Miller - March 20th, 2006

A Wall Street Journal article today titled Snow Defends Presidents’ Handling of the Economy got me thinking again about the problem of excessive executive compensation for Lean manufacturing. The problem of excessive executive compen

Gemba Keiei Chapter 15: Just In Time

By Jon Miller - March 16th, 2006

In this chapter, Taiichi Ohno talks about “just in time” but does not focus much on the material and information flow within TPS. Instead, he spends most of his time contemplating the English phrase’s origin. The Orig

Herman Miller NT Furniture is NoT Lean

By Jon Miller - March 14th, 2006

At Gemba we advocate something called the “open office” both for ourselves and to support the Lean transaction efforts of our clients. The open office is exactly what it sounds like, a Lean office area with as few walls as possible

College Dean Concludes: Kaizen Best Learned by Doing

By Jon Miller - March 13th, 2006

E. Alan Hartman, Dean of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh College of Business, has been rolling up his sleeves and doing gemba kaizen. He first wrote about his experience with kaizen at the Ariens Co. in the Appleton Post-Crescent i

The Link Between Gemba Kaizen and Human Resource Development

By Jon Miller - March 9th, 2006

Nidhi Shah recently posted a question on this blog “Is there a link between Gemba kaizen and HRD personnel in an organisation?” Thanks for your question Nidhi. Kaizen and Lean manufacturing can sometimes be seen as technica

Gemba Keiei Chapter 14: Do Kaizen When Times Are Good

By Jon Miller - March 8th, 2006

In this brief chapter Taiichi Ohno emphasizes the need to do kaizen in order to be ready to compete with lowest cost production. When production volumes decrease, one strategy is to produce products with higher value added and higher m

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